Laowa’s Two New Compact OOOM Cine Zoom Lenses Cost Under $2,000

May 21, 2024

Jeremy Gray

Two black camera lenses with blue accents are displayed against a black background. The left lens is labeled "20-45" and has an opening in the bottom, while the right lens is labeled "45-150" and is fully closed. Both lenses have various adjustment rings.

Venus Optics has announced a pair of new Laowa cinema zoom lenses. The Laowa OOOM 14-60mm T2.9 MFT Cine and 20-85mm T4 S35 Cine lenses are available in Micro Four Thirds and PL mount, respectively, and promise high-end cine zoom performance at an affordable price.

Each zoom offers a zoom range of just over 4.2x, delivering relatively high flexibility for a cinema-oriented lens. Laowa promises its new OOOM Cine Zoom Series provides exceptional image quality, a parfocal design, negligible distortion, and minimized focus breathing. They also promise strong close-focusing performance, with a minimum focusing distance of 1.8 feet (56 centimeters).

Close-up of a professional camera with a 14-60mm zoom lens attached, mounted on a stabilizer. The background is softly blurred with warm lighting, highlighting bottles arranged on shelves. The scene exudes a cinematic and cozy atmosphere.

“Designed with a sleek and compact form, both lenses are perfectly suited for small-scale productions and the rigorous demands of documentary filmmaking,” Laowa promises.

Each lens sports a cinema-oriented design and control scheme to fit into a video workflow. Both lenses feature identical 284-degree focus throws, 77mm filter threads, and 80mm front diameters. They also share similar positioning for zoom and focus rings.

The Laowa OOOM 14-60mm T2.9 for Micro Four Thirds cameras sports 22 elements across 18 groups and has a nine-bladed aperture. The 20-85mm T4 for Super35 cameras (PL mount) has 25 lens elements in 19 groups.

Given crop factors for Micro Four Thirds and S35 image sensors, the two lenses offer very similar fields of view as one another. They are also both reasonably adaptable to a range of cameras, especially the S35 zoom.

The Laowa OOOM 14-60mm T2.9 cinema zoom lens is designed for Micro Four Thirds cameras, like the popular Panasonic Lumix G series or OM System cameras.

Despite the different focal lengths, amounts of glass, and lengths, the pair of lenses weigh the same — 1,350 grams (2.98 pounds). The 14-60mm is 172 millimeters (6.77 inches) long, while the 2085mm is 150 millimeters (5.9 inches) long.

The pair of new Laowa OOOM zooms aren’t Laowa’s first. The company released the OOOM 25-100mm T2.9 Cine in 2019, which was Laowa’s first-ever cinema zoom lens. The Chinese manufacturer then followed with additional cine zoom lens series, including the Ranger S35 and Nanomorph anamorphic zoom series.

Close-up of a black camera lens labeled "20-85 T4" with various rings for adjusting focus, zoom, and aperture settings. The lens features a reflective front element and blue detailing. The background is black, emphasizing the sleek design of the lens. — Laowa OOOM 20-85mm T4 cinema zoom lens for Super35 Arri PL-mount cameras

Both new Laowa OOOM Cine Zoom lenses are priced at $1,999. The older 25-100mm T2.9 lens is currently on sale for $3,549 and comes in black and piano white, while the new zooms are only available in black. All Laowa OOOM lenses are available directly from Laowa.

Image credits: Laowa